I Don't Need
by Totally-Out-Of-It
Summary: JumperSlash 100 fic ultimate challenge. 5/100. prompts sympathy and shared history. The day David decides to wake up early, he finds Griffin already gone, and Griffin isn't too happy with him when David finds him... in a very personal moment.


A/N: This is my fifth story in the LJ JumperSlash community's 100 fic ultimate challenge. This uses prompts 22 and 56 – sympathy and shared history. I still need to post my other entries into this challenge (or some of them).

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The day David decided to wake up early, Griffin decided to wake up even earlier. It was a long standing tradition that Griffin always woke up before David. This once, David knew he was going to get up first. He'd figured out the time when Griffin rose from sleep and went to get breakfast, so he'd planned it to where he'd be able to wake up at least a half an hour before Griffin even thought of moving…

So how was it that Griffin had still beaten him to waking up? David pushed himself up off the couch and hurried to the bedroom door. Griffin's bed was empty. The sheets were actually tidy and the bed was made. David looked at the TV, but Griffin wasn't in his chair.

David frowned and narrowed his eyes around the lair. Was there even the slightest remnant of a jumpscar? Were there any clues? David walked to the calendar to see if he was missing something. Griffin only seemed to rise early on occasions he enjoyed… like Thanksgiving when he could steal Turkeys easier, or Halloween. He never explained that one to David. Griffin hardly liked candy, but he loved Halloween.

David knit his eyebrows together. The calendar read 'Simple City Grave' and what looked like coordinates under that. David didn't follow. Was it a book or a game? He didn't recall ever seeing something like that among Griffin's stores and Griffin had never mentioned it before. So what? David did a sweep of the room and found a small brochure, tinier than a mini-bible, hidden in a crack in the wall behind Griffin's gaming chair. The cover read 'Simple City Graveyards'. David frowned. Why was a graveyard on the calendar?

Whatever the reason, David looked at the address and then the picture below it. With hardly a moment of hesitation, he vanished from the lair and appeared somewhere in upper state New York. He slipped the brochure into his back pocket and scanned the area. He was surrounded by headstones and flowers, but mostly by dirt and grass. As far as he could tell, he was alone. Was Griffin really here?

Something made noise to his left, but when he looked all he saw was an old oak tree. The wind must have made the leaves rustle. David sighed and strolled toward the shade, his jacket blocking the chilled air. David didn't particularly like graveyards, especially not after last year… not after his father had died.

David gasped as he tripped and fell on his face. Well that was embarrassing if anyone was around to see it. He flipped to see what he'd tripped over. Graveyards had always creeped him out and he had to make sure it wasn't a zombie or something.

Alas, poor David had only tripped over some idiot's empty beer bottle. David rolled over and sighed as he pushed himself to his knees. There he stopped and squinted at the tombstone in front of him. He didn't recognize the first name, but the last name was… wasn't that Griffin's last name?

"Oh god," David murmured. "Is this… Griffin's mom?" David looked to his left and frowned deeper. "… and his dad?"

"Shut up. Stand up. Turn aroun', an' explain yourself," Griffin's harsh voice commanded from behind him.

David did as he was told, but he said nothing. He just stared at his fellow jumper. A wave of understanding hit him as he saw Griffin's eyes were pink, the remains of red… Had he been crying? Griffin was glaring and it only seemed to get worse the longer they stood there.

"Well, why aren' yeh explainin yerself?" he asked. Oh. He sounded slightly drunk. Had that been _his_ empty bottle David had tripped over?

"You told me to shut up," David replied. Griffin crossed his arms and gave David a 'are you stupid?' look. "I woke up and couldn't find you, so I came looking for you."

"And wha' made ya think I was here?" Griffin asked. David pulled out the brochure. "Oh. Well go on home now. I was gonna be back before ya woke up anyweh. Go on!" Griffin waved him off like a dog.

"Griffin, are these your parents?" David asked, stepping aside but not leaving. "Is today… I mean…"

"The day they died? Nah. I dun come then… too easy for Paladins to… to track. Tha's yesterday," Griffin mumbled out. Yep. He was definitely at least buzzed.

Griffin sort of poked the dirt with the tip of his shoe and made a semi-circle by turning his body. David watched him with a frown. Griffin definitely wasn't all there. He was surprised that Griffin's accent hadn't gotten worse with the drinking, though. It was obvious that one bottle hadn't been all Griffin had consumed this morning. David's face changed to look interested and then he turned and knelt before the grave.

"Morning. I'm David Rice, Griffin's… uh… roommate? It's a pleasure to finally be introduced to you. You know, Griffin can be such a baby about revealing anything person- ah!" David cut off in a gasp of shock as he was ripped up and back away from the grave. The hand that had grabbed him let go and David fell back into the dirt with a grunt.

"The hell are you doin?" Griffin barked. He stood between David and the graves as though hiding them from view. His face was tinted a deeper pink than before and he looked almost tired.

"What did it look like?" David asked. "I was saying hi to your parents."

"Why? Wha' good does tha' do? Who gave ya permission? Get outta here, Davy, this isn' your business!" Griffin growled. David glared up at Griffin and pushed himself to his feet.

"Since when do I need permission to talk to a dead person?" he yelled angrily.

Griffin jerked back, pain and shock evident on his face. David instantly felt bad. That had been too harsh. It was like jeering at the funeral. Ha ha, Griffin, both of your parents are dead, or something like that. David frowned and reached a hand out toward Griffin. The Brit pulled back, looking at David as though he didn't know who he was anymore.

"I-I'm sorry. That was uncalled for," David apologized. "I just wanted to -," but he was interrupted.

"Save it," Griffin said. He put up a hand to put a physical barrier between them. "I don't need your sympathy."

Griffin vanished, leaving only a tattered scar that hissed with the sounds of his destination behind him. David groaned. He knelt quickly and looked over at the graves through the scar.

"Sorry. We'll have to become acquainted later. I have to go catch your son," he said. He gave a little, childishly excited smile and then literally jumped into the scar.

When he appeared again, David found himself in England, in a little alley by a bar. This was a pretty conspicuous place to jump to, especially for Griffin. Wasn't he the one all about their privacy issues? Now he jumps to an alley right by the bar? Didn't he know this was where people came to make out and have privacy?

Actually, someone _was_ in the alley. They were against the wall and throwing up. Brilliant.

"Griffin?" David asked, approaching the other male. "Man, maybe it isn't the best idea to jump while drunk. I mean, look where you turned up."

"Shut up," Griffin snapped hoarsely. He groaned in his sickness and leaned heavily on the wall.

"Aren't you supposed to be the mature, smart, cocky one?" David sighed out in slight disappointment. "Come on. I'm taking you home."

And maybe it was because he was drunk, but Griffin willingly leaned into David and let himself be taken away. David managed to get them both back to the lair and set Griffin down in his bed in a semi-comfortable looking position before Griffin started acting up. He groaned and rolled over onto his side, looking away from David. The American sighed silently and looked at Griffin with the exact pity he didn't want. Or maybe it wasn't pity. Maybe it was understanding. They'd both lost their parents now. David shrugged and looked out the door toward the rest of the lair. He should probably get Griffin some bread or something to nibble on… and probably a bucket for the upset stomach. Did they even have bread left?

"It was my faul', ya know," Griffin's voice floated up to his ears. "I was stupid."

"No, it was the paladins who killed them," David said, leaning in the doorway.

"Nah. It was a rule. No jumpin where people could see… an' I did. Thas how they found us." His voice was slightly muffled by the comforter, and it made him harder to understand, but David got it all anyway.

"Still wasn't your fault."

"Ya remember when your father died?" he asked, but his 'remember' sounded more like 'remmmber'.

David nodded, but he knew Griffin wasn't looking for a verbal answer. He was going to continue either way.

"Ya came in here blubberin like a loon… kept sayin how it was yer fault. Told me all sorts a'stories… I couldn' understan' why you were so sad 'bout his death. Ya didn' even like him when he was livin… an' he was an ass anyway," Griffin drifted off after that. He went silent, and David wondered if now he was waiting for David to speak.

"He was still my dad," he decided on saying. "He was the only parent I had… even if he wasn't always there for me."

Griffin took a long, deep breath before replying. "Similar," he said. "You an' me, I mean."

"Say again?" David asked.

"Orphans," Griffin mumbled. "Mine died… an' yers… never loved ya… the way ya needed… We're both orphans. Me an' you, I mean."

"I know. You already said that," David said, keeping his voice gentle. Griffin sounded like he was falling asleep.

"Davy," Griffin called out, head twitching slightly as though the British jumper was contemplating turning over to look at David.

"Yeah?"

"I… I'm… I'm not tryin… to pity you. I jus'… we should stick together… cause we're similar, you know… I mean-,"

"You and me," David finished for him. "Yeah, I know." David smiled simply and sat down by the bed. "I follow Griffin. Don't worry… and sometimes it's okay to be pitied. Now get some rest. We'll talk again when you're sober and not so nice to me."

He heard Griffin snort, but that was all. Soon, he could hear Griffin was asleep and he got up. David left the room, a curious feeling brewing inside of him. Griffin should get drunk more often… maybe… David smiled like he'd heard a joke. On the bright side of all of this, David was now awake while Griffin was sleeping. Now he could find out what food they had left and make Griffin some food for when he got up. Lord knew he was going to need it, especially after all that deep conversation.


End file.
